Big Red and Ezra welcomed a new Red-tailed hawk chick to their nest atop a light pole about 80 feet above Cornell University’s athletic fields on Monday, and the pair already are bringing a steady stream of food to the youngster.

View full sizeCornell Lab of OrnithologyBig Red, a red-tailed hawk, helps her new chick break out of his egg on Monday on the Cornell University campus.

First up was a pigeon captured somewhere near the campus in Ithaca, N.Y., fed in small bits to the new chick. The nest was surrounded by snow at mid-day on Monday, as the temperature hovered around freezing.

The adult pair has been feasting on voles, squirrels and pigeons in the weeks leading up to this first chick’s birth. Two more eggs are in the nest and are expected to hatch within the next day or so.

Big Red, the mom, is named after Cornell’s sports teams. She and mate Ezra have been nesting in the light tower for at least four years.

The female is slightly larger, with a darker head, nape and throat. She’s got a band on her right leg, placed there in nearby Brooktondale in 2003.

Ezra, named after Ezra Cornell, the school’s founder, has a band on his left leg, and is about 7 years old. He’s smaller and has golden feathers on face and head, and a pale neck.